What should Nigeria do with Tammy Abraham and its glut of diaspora talent?
Watching highlight reel of Lille and Nigeria’s breakout star — Victor Osimen — on YouTube, his on-pitch focus is clear to see. But watching him versus Chelsea in the champions league the other night, Victor seemed especially pumped. The match had been built up in the media as Victor Osimen vs Tammy Abraham. Although both players came out of the game with enhanced reputations, Victor seemed to relish the chance to let Tammy know that Nigeria doesn’t need him. Interestingly, Victor’s assumed sentiment is a popular one across sections of football fans in Nigeria with Tammy’s previous non-committal to representing Nigeria causing mild irritation.
Following Tammy’s (and Fikayo Tomori’s) subsequent acceptance of the call-up to the 3 Lions, the debate has now reached fever pitch levels with former players, pundits and the populace at large weighing in. The general feeling (at least in public) has been one of irritation, mixed with accusation of a lack of patriotism and a veiled wish to see the players choice pan out badly. Legendary schemer -Nwakwo Kanu even caught the bait — “I feel we don’t need to force people to play for the country because Nigeria is bigger than any player. We have quality players everywhere so we can’t continue to beg one player to play for us. Nigeria cannot beg, players have to beg Nigeria’’
Interestingly, the reaction to Tammy and Fikayo’s choice is eerily similar to the reaction in England from two years ago after Wilfred Zaha chose to represent the Elephants of Cote d’ivoire over England’s 3 Lions. England’s coach — Gareth Southgate joined a number of pundits in criticizing Wilfred Zaha for his choice, even stating that he will not pick anyone unless they have an “inherent desire” (to play for England) and that he has reservations about following Sam Allardyce’s idea of selecting players merely through residency rules.
Yet, the reality of the modern world that we live in as beautifully captured here by the brilliant Barnay Ronay is that players do inhabit multiple identities all at once, none more so than football players (humans really!) with multiple nationalities. Coming to terms with the complexity of this issue is an important first step. Understanding that these players may just feel a little uncertain, entertain some doubts and have divided loyalties.
As a country with a growing emigration rate, it is worth highlighting that this issue will only get magnified in the years to come, with more athletes qualifying for Nigeria and another nation. How we deal with it can impact not just our sporting successes but the perception of the country by its growing diaspora population.
Nigeria’s pitch to its overseas born/raised talent pool can thus not be suggestions of short-lived international prospects with their other nation(s). For one, the talent coming true (in England in particular) is truly top notch with some of these players possessing both the quality and temperament to be world beaters, so the more likely outcomes are long, successful international careers. As an aside, does the current talent pool with its depth and breadth have something to do with the legendary pair of JJ Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu? Especially noting that majority of these kids were born in and around the time that this pair weaved their magic in the premier league. Away from the digression, the risk of short-lived international careers is offset by the near certainty of sporting underachievement and professional non fulfillment, on the back of incredibly shoddy organizational and logistical capabilities of football administrators, that comes with choosing the country of their parents’ birth. Examples abound, whether it is the Super Falcons being cramped like sardines into a small bus while preparing for the last world cup or the junior Eagles being stranded in Lodz after playing at the junior world cup, the weak link in our quest for sporting excellence has always been the administrators. Nigeria’s pitch can similarly not be insinuations of non-integration and superficial acceptance from the other nation. Again, away from our propensity to view these foreign-born athletes in uncomplimentary light, these countries have a history of making concerted efforts at integration and diversity.
The challenge for Nigeria is to be as good a fit for players with Nigerian heritage, on a sporting, cultural, commercial and organizational level, as these other nation(s), to give us a fair chance at attracting these talents. Sporting fit will include availability of the required infrastructure including a thriving local league, it can mean the vision of regularly competing for top honors at major events, it can mean having capable international representations so that deserving players don’t lose out on individual accolades because the country’s representation is sub-optimal. Being a good fit on a commercial level means these players do not have to earn (significantly) less at club level for choosing Nigeria or worse, lose out (completely) on important endorsements — a key component of athletes’ earnings globally. Cultural fit is fluid and nebulous territory but is no less important a consideration for young people in a dynamic world.
Finally, the football family has got to come to terms with the reality of a ‘’glocalized’’ world, one where identity is fluid and affiliations constantly change. Nigeria can become a really good fit on all of the aforementioned terms and still lose out on athletes. An athlete may, for no apparent reason, whatsoever, elect to go with that other European or Middle eastern nation. Indeed, Nigeria being a good fit may not be enough to convince Jamal Rayne-Rajj — my 7-month-old son — into choose it over country X (insert that forward-looking nation) in 2040!
